Are expensive knives worth it?

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EatingSarma

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Months ago, I made decision to get myself Viper Berus 1 and use it as EDC.

Before that I carried Boker GoBag.

That are 2 different steels (D2 and M390) at 2 different prices (30€ and 150€). So you can get 5 Bokers for 1 Viper, so is it worth it???

In my experience - yes.
It stopped me from buying more and more cheap knives in hopes of finding "the one". So you get yourself what you really need (or want) right away instead of spending that much or even more money on cheaper options that still won't do it for you.

I switched to Viper and didn't look back ever since.
1. More comfortable handle
2. Slicier blade with taller grind
3. Holds the edge longer
4. And is even easier to sharpen (few swipes on fine ceramic or diamond + strop and it's hair popping again)
5. No dots and spots of corrosion on it even if I sweat
6. It looks a lot friendlier to people and is kind of modern gentleman's knife
 
EatingSarma said:
Months ago, I made decision to get myself Viper Berus 1 and use it as EDC.

Before that I carried Boker GoBag.

That are 2 different steels (D2 and M390) at 2 different prices (30€ and 150€). So you can get 5 Bokers for 1 Viper, so is it worth it???

In my experience - yes.
It stopped me from buying more and more cheap knives in hopes of finding "the one". So you get yourself what you really need (or want) right away instead of spending that much or even more money on cheaper options that still won't do it for you.

I switched to Viper and didn't look back ever since.
1. More comfortable handle
2. Slicier blade with taller grind
3. Holds the edge longer
4. And is even easier to sharpen (few swipes on fine ceramic or diamond + strop and it's hair popping again)
5. No dots and spots of corrosion on it even if I sweat
6. It looks a lot friendlier to people and is kind of modern gentleman's knife
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Yes, you make a very good point. You might not have to get 5 Bokers though, maybe 5 different brands?

Edit: I looked up the Viper Berus 1, that's a very nice knife.
 
drawkcaB said:
Yes, you make a very good point. You might not have to get 5 Bokers though, maybe 5 different brands?
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I just mentioned that as an example, but I agree.

So for 150€ in Europe you can get:
D2 Boker Go Bag (30€)
AUS8 Cold Steel Mini Tac Tanto (50€)
12C27 Brisa necker 70 (70€)

And all except that Brisa just don't look right, and Brisa is more of bushcraft than EDC knife + you gotta pay extra for kydex sheath if you want one. And Viper actually fits the pocket and steel is much better too.
 
J85909266 said:
Yes.
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Seconded. :)

Some jumps in price offer greater jumps in quality than others -- e.g., jumping from $50 to $150 the differences are usually more noticeable than jumping from $300 to $400.

I'd say there's a price point at which the argument for a more expensive knife becomes about something other than fit, finish, materials, and overall quality. I suspect five different knife knuts would put that price point in five different spots. ;)

EatingSarma said:
I switched to Viper and didn't look back ever since.
Click to expand...
I'm glad you're enjoying your Viper! :)
 
There is definitely a sweet spot for me. Most of mine are $100-$250 U.S. and in this journey I've found a few things.

At a certain price point you become annoyed by things on a $250 knife that would not bother you on a $180 one. I start going through the motions of should I return it, or will it be better broken in or if I tinker with it.

Over ~$200, I find it's easy to be disappointed, because you look for things to be wrong, instead of being surprised at how well made the less expensive knife is.

Expensive to me is over $300 and "worth it" is hard to define.
 
Depends on the knife and the person.
I know that expensive knife (let's say $200+) isn't going to be perfect of fit every situation.
OTOH I've liked carrying budget knives like peanuts or the CJRB Ria.
I do have over a dozer Moki made knives, so I'm not adverse to spending and I do like fit and finish.
 
I think it is very personal, no two answers will be the same. The point of diminishing returns for most of us might be the Ritter RSK at $150, but most people will never pay that much for a knife. And there are collectors who fidget with their $35000 knives while listening to classical music and sipping champagne.
 
kobold said:
I think it is very personal no two answers will be the same. The point of diminishing returns for most of us might be the Ritter RSK at $150, but most people will never pay that much for a knife. And there are collectors who fidget with their $35000 knives while listening to classical music and sipping champagne.
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$500 is about my top currently. At that level I can expect premium fit and finish, high end/well treated blade steel, and an excellent warranty.

Honestly, the pandemic has pushed me to that level of purchase. Like a lot of lucky folks, my income did not fall during the last couple of years. However, guns and ammo have been hard to come by. I sorta put down shooting February 2020 and haven't looked back. Instead, I have been buying knives inwouldnt have been able to afford to try out without allocating those funds from my shooting habits.

I dont find much that floats my boat in dedicated pocket knives under the $300 mark as of now.
 
kobold said:
I think it is very personal, no two answers will be the same. The point of diminishing returns for most of us might be the Ritter RSK at $150, but most people will never pay that much for a knife. And there are collectors who fidget with their $35000 knives while listening to classical music and sipping champagne.
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I honestly feel like, from a performance perspective (will it cut better, cut for longer, etc.) you hit the point of diminishing returns much more quickly than that. If I wasn't a knife nut I could probably carry a Rat 1 or CIVIVI and never think there was anything I was missing out on.

IMO, once you can get a good, reliable knife that will likely last you a lifetime at the price point you've hit the point of diminishing returns and are likely paying more for specific materials or design features that add value to the knife for you in particular.

I pretty routinely carry knives that are $200-400. They're 100% worth it to me, but I am under no illusion that they would in any way be worth it to anyone other than another enthusiast.
 
For your casual knife user, no, expensive knives will not be worth it (in their eyes). As most see it a knifes first and only function is to cut. After that, looks.
For most of us here on the forums that have been here a while, an expensive knife is something that has particular aesthetics, materials and fit and finish. Everybody rants and raves over CRK knives. I've owned 3, currently still own two of them. The materials and simplicity of them are what attracts me, not the looks. They're computer cut knives. Handmade knives impress me more.
In my opinion, spyderco offers the best of both worlds. They have great fit and finish for a production knife, offer premium steels and great materials otherwise but offer it all at an affordable rate. Other manufacturers as well, i've just grown partial to spyderco outside of higher end knives or customs.
 
If I am being serious, as a person so very jaded by this industry: Yes, paying the big names up to $500 USD will give you an impeccable knife in most cases. However, I am not responsible for which brands in this range to avoid or not.
 
First, just about anything that you would do with a knife can easily be done by models costing $30 or less. Most of the world meets their needs this way, and even our hardest used kitchen and work knives are frequently way below that. The knives that we like satisfy a want rather than a need. There is nothing wrong with that and it is always easy to find good reasons for what we want.

Second, price has only a tentative relationship with quality. It doesn’t matter what sort of mousetrap you design or build; the price is always driven by your ability to sell the product. A Timex is often a better time keeping device than a Rolex, but no one buys a Rolex just to tell time. Better materials, finishes and designs are just potential talking points. At a certain level, once you get past the point of competent design and build, it makes little practical difference what you buy.

In my pocket is an simple Camillus stockman that I purchased many years ago. It wasn’t a planned purchase, not even an impulse buy; I was simply paying for another item when the cashier handed me a handful of loose change which I didn’t want to carry. So I looked at the counter and saw a bucket of loose knives and bought one of those with the change to get rid of the coins. I figured the knife would fall apart in short order and hoped that I might use it to test some of my sharpening tools.

It has been nearly 25 years now and that knife continues to ride as a permanent feature in my pocket. It has long been a favorite knife, not because of quality, but for its familiarity. It is just always there whenever I need to cut anything and there is comfort in using a familiar tool that doesn’t require a great deal of thought.

N2s
 
I won’t be a good respondent for this thread. I see knives that pique my interest, research the hell out of them, then either dismiss them or continue researching them, irrespective of price. Materials, where the knife is made, integrity of the maker, and warranty all factor in.

Can I be happy with a $250.00 Emerson? You bet.

Can I be happy with a Special Edition Shirogorov? You bet.

But chances are the $250.00 Emerson will wind up with more pocket time and I’ll be more likely to use it. This isn’t to say I don’t use my Shirogorovs because I do. There are FAR more expensive knives out there that I don’t own. Not because I can’t, but rather because they’ll see very little use as kobold kobold points out.

Never owned one, but truth be told, an Ontario Rat 1 would satisfy most.
 
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